More Fatalities on Georgia's Roads Bring Law Enforcement Out in Full Force

Echols County Sheriff Randy Courson said "just from last year we've had a fourteen percent fatality increase in the state of Georgia."

Nearly 450 people have died so far this year on Georgia's interstates and local routes. With Labor Day right around the corner safety is a top priority.

Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine said "we have a lot of fatalities on weekends, on holiday weekends especially. Of course the traffic is heavier and that's the reason we're out here concentrating on this area."

local law enforcement has teamed up with counterparts in various other cities and even states for more than two decades to keep the roads safe with a program called Hands Across the Border.

For the last 21 years this crackdown on impaired driving has had one goal: if you're under the influence and behind the wheel you go to jail.

During the weekdays a checkpoint will usually lead to about 2 DUI arrests. But it's not the busiest time.

Sergeant Michael Adams of the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office said "on the weekends it increases up to fifty percent of the number of DUI's that we arrest on the road at our traffic safety checkpoints and are prosecuted for that offense."

A typical checkpoint like this will last for two to three hours at a time. On Average Lowndes and Echols Counties will conduct two checkpoints per week.

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